Skoda Yeti ready to launch

Skoda has had its ups and downs, even more than most car companies. Once a maker of luxurious cars, it ended up making communist skips, but has returned to be a marque to reckon with since VW took control.

Back in 2005, Skoda revealed a small, urban concept called the Skoda Yeti. Based on the then Golf platform, it was designed to be a non-aggressive, practical and fashion-conscience urban SUV. The original concept was shown at Geneva in 2005, with an updated concept, featuring an open pick-up, showing at Frankfurt later the same year.

And here we are, four years on, and Skoda has announced that the Skoda Yeti will be launched at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March. Hopefully, with four years to get it right, that will be the case!

The Yeti looks to be a creation in the mould of the Suzuki Jimny. Offering a combination of open, soft-top and hard-top configurations, it is aiming for a young audience that want a fun car. It looks pretty much on the money.

The original concept had a funky interior with quality, hard-wearing materials and some quirky design features. As usual, a lot of these detail touches will probably not make it to the final production car. But if the overall concept is very similar (which Skoda tell us it is) it should be a pretty good offering. No news on whether Skoda will offer the open version as well as the fixed roof car, but with four years to play hopefully we will get both.

Based on the current Golf (or perhaps the last), the Yeti should offer reasonable driving dynamics, and occupy a niche that VW as a group doesn’t really compete in. Should be interesting.